GST Council to meet on May 4; simplification of returns on cards

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is scheduled to meet on May 4 to discuss simplification of the returns to boost compliance, an agenda on cards for a long time now.

GST Council is scheduled to meet on May 4 to discuss simplification of tax returns. (Image: IE)

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is scheduled to meet on May 4 to discuss the simplification of returns to boost compliance, an agenda that has been on cards for a long time now. PTI reported that the Sushil Modi-led Group of Ministers (GoM) has put before the Council three models of a simpler returns form for discussion. On March 10, the GST Council had asked the GoM and I-T department to look into simpler models.

The Council on May 4 will meet through video conferencing and may also consider the proposal of converting GSTN into a government company. Headed by Arun Jaitley, the Council, in the last meeting, extended the filing of GSTR-3B and GSTR-1 for another three months from April to June, 2018 until the new return system is finalised.

Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gave a glimpse into the model, the GST Council might be considering. He said that the Council may choose to keep only GSTR-3B, along with supply invoices. While the process to simplify returns “culminated” in a direction, it has not been finalised yet.

When the GST was launched on July 1, 2017, there were four kinds of key GST returns forms — GSTR-1, GSTR-2, GSTR-3 and GSTR-3B. Later in November, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 were eliminated and only GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B continued. The Council is looking to increase GST compliance and curb tax evasion. The average GST collection between July 2017 and February 2018 was about Rs 90,000 crore, which was a little short of the target.